Market trading was a bit stormy last week, as investors mixed
contemplative selling with passionate buying sprees. The Nasdaq jumped over
the 1900 mark for the first time in 18 months. "It looks like the cash is
still coming into the market and there is just a dearth of sellers," said
David Briggs, head of stock trading at Federated Investors, to The Wall Street
Journal. Some market hesitation was a prelude to the Federal Reserve's meeting
on interest rates, where rates were left unchanged as expected. What prompted
subsequent buying was the central bank's assurance that rates will remain low
for a "considerable period." Bill Strazzullo, market strategist at State
Street, commented to Dow Jones Newswires, "It's bullish for stocks... Interest
rates will remain low, money will remain cheap and the Fed has no intention of
changing that anytime soon." Garnering further market optimism was news that
unemployment claims fell back below 400,000, easing somewhat the tension
headache brought on by continued weakness in the labor market. Brokerage
reports continued to dictate a healthy amount of market direction, not
atypical during preannouncements season and before a barrage of earnings hits
investors' desks. Out of the hardware space, Smith Barney downgraded Hewlett-
Packard and Apple Computer, sending those issues lower. IBM received some
bullish comments from UBS, who believes the hardware and chip operations
appear to be improving and the Dow member's services unit seems ready to sign
another "mega-deal." Micron Technology benefited from an upgrade by First
Albany. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs was a bit downbeat on the chip-equipment
makers and said in a note to clients, "...we believe it is likely that the
stocks will trade down 15% before resuming their upward move." Still,
investors do not seem ready to give up on the spirit of rallies.
High-Tech Monday Update is provided courtesy of Thomson Financial. This
information is believed to be true and accurate; we take no responsibility for
inaccurate information and reserve the right to update our reports. For more
information, please visit our web site at http://www.thomson.com/financial.
SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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